ShawnDoc:Is there a valid medical use for these things? I always assumed they were just a gimmick.

Well, if you're paralyzed, have suffered through certain types of prostate cancer, have certain diabetes side effects, high blood pressure, or other sources of complete erectile dysfunction these can come in handy.

I see no problem with this aside from the claim that they're paying too much for them.

dameron:ShawnDoc: Is there a valid medical use for these things? I always assumed they were just a gimmick.

Well, if you're paralyzed, have suffered through certain types of prostate cancer, have certain diabetes side effects, high blood pressure, or other sources of complete erectile dysfunction these can come in handy.

I see no problem with this aside from the claim that they're paying too much for them

This. But I'm also willing to bet a good deal of them are the same as hoverrounds - people who don't need them using medicaid or medicare to get one of those fancy milking machines they saw on x-tube.

Given that the VA hospital I work at has a sexual health clinic, yes, the federal government is indeed spending money on penis pumps. I'm pretty sure we're also spending money on birth control for the increasing number of female vets that come in... which to fox news I'm sure is even worse.

It works out to roughly $350 dollars per penis pump which is basically some plastic tubing and stuff. Maybe a tad excessive...but hey it's rhinestone encrusted and signed by Fred Thompson so you know it works.

The federal government paid more than double the retail price for VES, the Department of Health and Human Services IG found. Medicare prices for the systems, the report said, "remain grossly excessive compared with the amounts that non-Medicare payers pay."

So now we want the government to use its leverage to negotiate for lower prices?

berylman:It works out to roughly $350 dollars per penis pump which is basically some plastic tubing and stuff. Maybe a tad excessive...but hey it's rhinestone encrusted and signed by Fred Thompson so you know it works.

Tree fidy? Those things are like $20-30 at the pron store. Its not mine i swear.

Barry Lyndon's Annuity Cheque:The federal government paid more than double the retail price for VES, the Department of Health and Human Services IG found. Medicare prices for the systems, the report said, "remain grossly excessive compared with the amounts that non-Medicare payers pay."

So now we want the government to use its leverage to negotiate for lower prices?

I can never keep it straight.

yes... except for pharmaceuticals, any sort of 'health care' really, and weapons.. well anything that might be purchased by some branch of the armed services for whatever reason... because ($$$$$) private free enterprise or something!!!

//don't have a problem with Medicare covering treatments for ED//do care if they are in fact paying 2x price//which is highly questionable considering the source

In my job at a doctors office we get requests from these all the time. 3/5 requests are for an individual who is deceased. The other 2 living ones have no idea and they didn't request the VED. These companies are a first class scam.

Hey, you. Yeah you, stop posting that story like it's true. It's a tired old urban legend that NASA spent millions of dollars on pens while the Russians used pencils. The space pen was developed by Paul Fisher, a private citizen, who then sold them to NASA for use in the space program. The Russians bought and used them too because using pencils in space is a hazard to sensitive electronic equipment.

Of course dimwit right wingers love to trot out this story as a prime example of government waste. Too bad it, like many of their beliefs, is not true.